hi- I agree with your suggestions and have a second set of quotes with a XR13. My house is about 3500 sq feet with 2 systems- the other is a heat pump which we are also going to replace with a XR13 heatpump. We have a 3 ton furnace now- very old(20+years) and probably 80% efficiency. I have no problems heating or cooling my home. Old HP is not as good as the furnace- but everyone tells me the new ones are better. The HP I have is 2.5 tons, but with the Manual J load calc and new ductwork we have been told to go with a 2 ton system. We are trying to keep things simple. The efficiency is not as important to me as getting a systme that is installed well, properly sized and will give us YEARS of trouble free service. I had been looking at the Carrier equipment as some people tell me the parts are more readily available, but I don't want to use the company that provided all the wrong numbers. Makes me wonder what else is wrong.The best company in terms of giving me lots of info and spending more time (measuring everything- not just using plans)is a Trane dealer. thanks again for your help- you really give terrific info and suggestions.

I appreciate the feedback so far. Based on what I'm learning, I think we'll go with a single stage for the a/c but still trying to decide if it would be worth it to have the heat pump on it or not. What's funny is that two of the contractors I've talked to tell me not to get the Heat pump b/c it will be the first thing to break, no matter what brand or what line, because the reversing valves always are the first things to die. The nice thing with the SMART devices is we can tell it how low it can go before switching to the furnace, we're thinking the H/P will only be used down to 45 degrees and then it'll switch to the fully modulating furnace. Our gas rates aren't bad around here, but this is a long term investment and no one knows what things will cost in 5-10 yrs or longer... Another way to look at it is the H/P can be a backup heat supply should the furnace have any problems. I've confirmed with two of my contractors that I can use the more basic a/c or h/p with the SMART communicating furnace because the furnace is what regulates all the flow (inducer, blower, modulating... and anything else) and just tells the a/c or heat pump when to run. So I can use a regular 'dumb' ac or hp. Also I learned that the York has the brains of the system in the furnace and the Lennox has the brains in the thermostat ... so when using the York - almost any thermostat could be used and the furnace's high-end features will keep working. When using a Lennox - the high end features get dumbed down if you ever use a basic thermostat with it. At least that's how I understand it... any takers on that? Thanks!

fishing if you are not going with Carrier Infinity or Bryant Evolution furnaces, then I would want a two stg var speed furnace 80K size. Both Carrier and Bryant offer these models. In Bryant, I believe its the 355BAV and 359BAV furnace models. Pair with Legacy series or Preferred series AC condenser-your selection on SEER level and best efficiency evap coil for your application. Add a box filter and Carrier/Bryant thermidistat. Not an Infinity system but still a very nice system that will provide you comfort and satisfaction at a reduced price and solid operating costs. I always recommend that homeowner request a thorough ductwork inspection by dealer. Now is the time to address any issues including hot/cold spots in home. IMO

green ask yourself these questions. how long do you expect to be in this home? how did current three ton AC perform? any comfort issues for top floor either cooling or heating? you are in a perfect climate for a heat pump with nat gas backup. plus you have reasonable electric rates. I would not even consider going down in size of the outside condenser without a properly performed load calculation to support it. You do want a new and correctly sized refrigerant lineset. I would also include a 4-5" pleated filter media cabinet. Now to the systems listed. Option #1 packs alot of punch and value. That is an XT80 gas furnace with the high eff blower motor. here are the numbers below. a little light in cooling BTUs, but it does qualify for tax credit. 3432940 Active Systems XR15 TRANE 4TTR5036E1 4TXCB004CC3 *UD1B080A9H3 33600 13.00 16.00 I would get an upgrade price on the XR15 heat pump version. Also you might consider the XV80 two stg 80% VS furnace. Regardless, I would want a good matching thermostat like Trane's 803 or the identical and probably less expensive HW equivalent. IMO Good Luck!